If you wondering why ‘Trailer Trash’ is in the title it has NOTHING to do with the quality of the trailer.  Just our gimmicky approach to keeping our trailer videos organized.  Pathetic.. I know.  Looking ahead, coming July 24th to a PSN near you, is the upcoming thriller/horror Asian themed downloadable game, ‘SIREN:Blood Curse’.  Check out the squeamish trailer…

written by Juan Perez \\ tags: Asian, blood, Curse, gimmicky, horror, July, nothing, Pathetic, PSN, quality, Siren, Siren Blood curse trailer, siren trailer, thriller, title, Trailer, Trash

[Edited from original]

When the Nintendo Wii was first announced, I felt as if the system was too gimmicky and would never last in the current market. To my surprise, the Wii took off like a bat out of hell and some might even say that the Wii owned 2007 in gaming. I’m not saying that I hate the system or anything, but it’s certainly what I would call a “dust collector” among my friends and I.

It was very interesting to me how Super Smash Brothers Brawl sold 1.4 million copies the first week it was out and has pretty much dropped off the map rapidly declined in sales since. I think this is a prime example of how Nintendo has no problems selling consoles and peripherals, but they are not selling games as projected. At this point, they would have to sell 20 million games instantly to catch up with the average games purchased per console on the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3. Despite achieving an installed base way beyond anyone’s expectations, the company simply has not taken the steps to keep the success going.

If Nintendo doesn’t fix some of their major problems fast, the Nintendo Wii will fade into obscurity by 2009. From my observations, their primary problems are:

• Poor game marketing.
• They rely too heavily on sequels.
• Low quantities of consoles on the shelves.
• Poor relationships with 3rd party developers.
• Limited access to quality information for the media.

Can Nintendo rebound from these problems? I highly doubt they will. The Nintendo Wii is getting ready to go the way of the N64 and Game Cube in the near future. While there certainly are cool aspects to the Wii, I’m pretty sure this was simply a phase many people went through. The Wii really became part of pop culture for a little while and it took a long time for the buzz to die down. Nintendo has taken a beating by the mass media this week and I have a feeling the media’s love affair with their console is just about at the end of the road.

[Edit] Expanded Information 4/23

• Poor game marketing: By this, I am primarily talking about international marketing. I didn’t think it was any secret that Nintendo traditionally hasn’t been the greatest company in the marketing area, so I did not initially expand upon my statements. This was also a piece where I wanted to create conversation and intentionally did not go in-depth with my ideas. I certainly realize my fault in this. I also value all of the opinions even if they don’t match my own.
• They rely too heavily on sequels: Many comments have mentioned that all the systems rely on sequels. This is true but not to the point the Wii does. I have felt this has been an issue with Nintendo since N64 times. In my opinion (and the opinion of many others), if you want a good Wii game, it’s going to be a sequel. For people to claim Xbox 360 and PS3 rely too heavily on sequels, I don’t find that true. Some of the best games on both systems are original titles that surfaced this generation.
• Low quantities of consoles on the shelves: If you don’t think this is a problem, I’m not sure what to say. If it’s a production issue, Nintendo has no excuse. They’ve had plenty of time to catch up. With the profit they are making, they could easily dump funds into new production facilities. No Wiis on the shelf are definitely hurting them at this point. The vast majority of Wii gamers are not purchasing bulk games. Many hard-core gamers are not purchasing Wiis because they can’t find them. If they would cater more to the core base of the gaming industry, game sales would rise.
• Poor relationships with 3rd party developers: If you think Nintendo has great relationships with 3rd party developers, what are you smoking? Seriously, I’d like to know. I don’t even need to expand on this one.
• Limited access to quality information for the media: I have worked with numerous game developers, publishers and console makers in the past. Nintendo is by far the hardest company to get quality information from. They are the hardest company to get a response from. Sony and Microsoft on the other hand are incredibly easy to work with. I have a 100% success rate getting information from both companies. If I email or call them, I’ll usually get a response the same day or within 24 hours.

Some people probably assume I hate the Wii. That’s not the case. Two of my favorite games right now are SSBB and Super Mario Galaxy. Do I feel like the Wii is headed for doom? I certainly do and I have legitimate reasons to thinks so. I also know of numerous other game site writers who feel the same way, but they aren’t about to write an article about it. If Nintendo could fix some problems, I’d love to see my prediction proved wrong. I’ll also be forward and state that this was not a well-researched article and if I could do it again, I would have gone in-depth with it. I still believe the Wii is headed for a crash next year, so we’ll just have to see what happens…

Destructoid linked to us and as usual their photo choice was classic. It’s too bad it’s an article about how the rabid Wii-boys are plotting my demise.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: anything, bat, end, game, gaming, gimmicky, Hell, market, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, system